Transparent Aluminium

FYI: 'Transparent Aluminium' Is Now A Reality

As Seen on Star Trek

Stronger than glass, various military and commercial applications for this remarkable material are already being tested (how about an Transparent Aluminium fairing or clutch cover on your next Ducati). What was once used in the science-fiction Star Trek movies, see-through aluminum is now something that - through test mixing with rubies, sapphires and more - is now being tried out in all kinds of ways to create transparency where strength is also required.

For now, it is used in static-free transparent aluminum wrapping for computer parts and other electronics. It is also being tested in otherwise-conventional see-through soda cans and military shielding for vehicles where windows once were. At over ten dollars per square inch, however, it is still not cheap enough for mainstream everyday use - but may be someday soon.

Transparent aluminium is a state of aluminium achieved by bombarding a thin (50 nm) Al foil with soft X-ray laser radiation (wavelength 13.5 nm). The short laser pulse knocks out a core L-shell electron from every aluminium atom without breaking the crystalline structure of the metal making it transparent to soft X-rays of the same wavelength. This phenomenon is called saturable absorption. The thus produced transient state of aluminium is as dense as ordinary matter but can only exist for an extremely short period of time, as the energy required to maintain the high temperature which would be necessary to hold it in this state would be enormous. To create transparent aluminium, more power than is used by an entire city had to be focused into a dot with a diameter of less than one-twentieth the thickness of a human hair, and then could only maintain the transparent state for 40 femtoseconds.


Thanks DucCutters for the article, pics and some cool bikes